Office space in library building goes up for sale

An office condominium that’s part of the Rahway Public Library’s downtown building is up for sale, almost 10 years after the last time the property changed hands.

Clifton-based Striker Investment Realty listed the office space for sale with an exclusive list price of $6.225 million, according to a marketing email last month. Striker Investment Realty did not return an email seeking comment sent yesterday.

It’s been almost 10 years since the office condominium was sold for $4.55 million. The asking price is 37 percent, or $1.675 million, more than what it sold for at the end of 2008.

Rahway Office Center sale listingThe 41,000-square-foot property has net operating income of $419,984 and a cap rate of 6.75 percent, according to the listing, featuring seven separate spaces within the two top floors. There are 22 assigned garage parking spaces and about 120 unassigned surface lot spaces.

Rahway Public Library occupies the two floors — about 32,000 square feet — which is owned by the Redevelopment Agency so the two entities share in condo association responsibilities of the building. Overall, the building has approximately 75,000 square feet.

The property for sale was last assessed for $1,396,700, according to property records, and generated property taxes of $94,515 last year. The current owner is listed as Rahway Office Center, LLC, with a P.O. Box in Weehawken.

Rahway libraryFive years ago, the property won a tax appeal of about 25 percent for the tax years of 2010 through 2013 for Block 305, Lot 8.03 C0201. The property was vacant until 2009 when 7,000 square feet was leased to Anlar Construction, “which stopped paying rent in 2010 and was eventually locked out in September 2011, owing $166,000 in back rent,” according to a letter that was included within the tax assessment dispute and settlement.

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File photo 2009

Constructed in 2004 at a cost of $15 million, with much of it in state and federal funding, the 75,000-square-foot facility had difficulty attracting office tenants at first, and had a “chronic vacancy problem.” U.S. Healthworks, an occupational health care facility offering employers comprehensive occupational health services and physical and occupational therapy, signed a lease in 2014. Another tenant is Community Coordinate Child Care (CCCC) of Union County, a private, nonprofit agency that aims to improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of child care and related work/family services.

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